Vapouround magazine Special Issue 03 | Page 79

FEATURE

“ Let ’ s Talk about Vape ... Maybe ? Let ’ talk V-A-P-I-N-G : We ’ ll talk about All the Good Things & the Bad things , that Vape brings ”

Words & Photos by Tony Ottomanelli II
FEATURE

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So , what ’ s with the intensely sarcastic and slightly “ cheesy ” title of this article ? Well , simply because this is an interesting , yet slightly comical topic . Trust me , if you Vape or consider yourself to be a vaper , you may know exactly what I ’ m referring to . But first , did anyone catch that I was trying to emulate an old-school SalWt N ’ Pepa song in the title ? This is of no importance at all , but worthy enough to briefly mention . In any event , as a vaper , have you ever had a constructive discussion about Vaping with any non-Vaping individuals ? Not necessarily individuals who tend to be largely anti-Vaping , yet more so simply just friends who may not indulge in the act of Vaping - do you ever try to speak to them about Vaping and all the good things about it ? Or , perhaps go on a rant all about the unfair , illogical TPD & FDA regulations against Vaping ? Well , two things are for sure given this inquiry . First , I know I have placed myself in countless situations where I ’ ve tried to speak with friends or family about the advantages of Vaping or gone on rants about the global capitalist initiative to eradicate Vaping through regulation via TPD and the FDA . Secondly , what is for certain is that I have almost two minutes before I see that person ’ s eyes begin wandering around the room , looking for something or someone to save them from the verbal torture , unbeknownst to me , that I seem to be forcing them to endure . Literally , if you are a vaper who has been able to have a constructive conversation about Vaping with a non-vaper that lasted past the two minute mark , I salute you and greatly respect your communication skills . For the most part , I assume I have decent skills when communicating socially . I listen to people about who , what , where and when they may be speaking about . I ask them questions since I genuinely care about what they ’ re trying to say . Their verbal exchange is honestly important to me . In our modern digital era , face-to-face communication has unfortunately become far more scarce than in recent times . Additionally , I ’ m typically trying to make people laugh a much as I can or find some common ground between us during a face-to face social communication , but when I get into Vape-preach mode , it ’ s comes off like a manipulative speech or something worse . The non-vaper begins to lose interest when Vapers talk Vaping to them because they clearly have nothing to contribute to the conversation . Not to mention , Vapers often take the main stage and steal the limelight , giving the other person involved in the conversation no room whatsoever to even attempt making a comment . Vapers nowadays just have so much to say , to share , to claim , and to care about . Also , we have so many factual pieces of information , like scientific studies or published reports that we want to inform others So , what ’ s with the intensely
VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE USA 79